WARNING: iOS Canon Camera Connect 3.0.1x puts same location in every photo.

[allenhuffman]

5/6/2023 Update: I did more testing today. The location stored in every photo is the location where the phone was when you "Start recording." Every photo taken that day will have that GPS coordinate, and though the photos have the correct time, the GPS timestamp will be the same as well. (3.0.11.24 build 1341 was used today, same issue.)

I tried the updated Camera Connect last week. I was running the 3.0.10 (or it might have updated to 3.0.11 by then) on an iPhone 14 Pro with 1TB storage. When I used the version available in October 2022 (probably 2.9.22), it still had the issues where it would often just stop logging during the day. I had days on that trip where I forgot to keep checking it, and lost half a day or more of GPS data.

The new version looked like it was working better, since it was always still logging each night when I went to shut it off and upload GPS data in to my Canon G5X.

Unfortunately, tonight I found out it only put in SEVEN (7) GPS locations in the 4300 photos I took over the five days. They ALL have GPS data, but it's one of the seven locations repeated through thousands of photos.

4/12 UPDATE: Using ‘exiftool’ it now appears that the SAME GPS date/time and lat/lon is embedded in every image taken the same day, so my 7 locations were from the 7 days I used the camera, it seems.

I confirmed this using the 'exiftool' command line, and a script I had ChatGPT help me write (https://github.com/allenhuffman/EXIFPhotoScripts/)

This is a huge failure. Fortunately, due to all the problems I've had with Camera Connect over the past five years, this trip I ran a "Geotag Photos 2" app as well, though I did not have it logging as frequently as I would have liked. I hope to be able to use it's data to at least get my photos in the general area they were taken.

This is a big disappointment, since I recently created a script that lets me draw out regions in a Google Map, export it out as a KML file, then let the script sort photos in to subfolders based on the areas drawn on the map. This turned a sorting process of photos from Knott's Berry Farm in to a half hour process instead of spending a week or more working on it by hand.

Anyone had this problem? It shows 3.0.1 came out 5 months ago (no note on GPS changes), then 3.0.10 1 month ago (new camera support) and then 3.0.11 a week ago.

[shadowsports]

Greetings,

Second post from you.  Is this the camera you are using in both situations?

Canon G5X

[allenhuffman]

Yes, the 2.x software had an ongoing issue for five years where it would just stop recording data (turning the logging off) randomly during the day. I posted an update to that old topic, and then started this topic about a completely different and worse issue in the new 3.x version of the app. The other topic had nothing to do with any camera - just the app. This issue could be some incompatibility with the app and the G5X. I have no other Canon equipment to test it with, but at the request of Canon Support I am collecting data for them.

I have used ‘exiftool’ to make a CSV spreadsheet showing the image name, image date, GPS data, and GPS coordinates. It appears now that only one GPS date/location was used for EVERY photo I took each day of the trip. I have sent this in to support, and they say it’s been forward over to a developer so I’ll wait and see what happens.

Meanwhile, I’d love to hear from anyone who has used the new 3.x release (released in the last month) for this purpose and know if it works for them on their camera.

[shadowsports]

I have a 6D2 and R5 C.  The 6D2 has built in GPS.  The R5 C no, but I've tested the 3.x CC app and it passed GPS info to the camera successfully.  I haven't tested the duration or tried to look at the data.  This was why I asked about your camera model.  I'll do more testing with the R5 C and App and see what I can find out for you.  Probably won't reply again until tomorrow.  Have a late report today and will be working into the evening.  

**Edit:

I'm running Android 13, Pixel 6.  I'll check CC App for updates and let you know exact version also.  

[Hazel_T]

Hi allenhuffman,

I'm sorry to hear you are having issues with the GPS tagging. Did either your camera or phone get powered off or go into sleep mode? If either device was powered off or went into sleep mode it would drop the connection. If the connection is dropped it would need to be re-established to get start tagging photos again and any photos taken when the connection was dropped would not get tagged.

[allenhuffman]

Hi, Hazel_T.

The app was started up in the morning, and was still logging at night when I got back to the hotel. I would download the GPS tracks in to the camera. EVERY photo received a GPS location, but they were all the same location.

This repeated for five separate days, so any issue it had, it had consistently five separate times.

I have interacted with Canon support, and really hope there is some hope to get to the GPS data in the app (and that it truly didn't just log on location each day). I have data from 4/4, 4/5, 4/6, 4/7, 4/8 and 4/9 I'd really like to have in my photos.

[shadowsports]

@allenhuffman,

Can you also share the general location(s) while traveling?  GPS works almost everywhere and it doesn't need cellular or wifi, but caves and heavy tree cover can affect accuracy.  

I am not having a problem with GPS connectivity.  I'm using USB-C PD but am not moving around.  I'll test more tomorrow when I'm out.  App version is 3.0.11.25_1341

[allenhuffman]

I was walking around Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando Resort. My watch tracked fine, and my backup GPS app I was running (because of the issues with the old app shutting off logging randomly) tracked fine all those days as well - running on the same phone that Camera Connect was on.

I’ve been using this camera and Camera Connect since 2017, and have used it at these parks many times over the past six years. The only issue I ever used to have was it shutting off logging on me. This trip I ran the backup program, logging every minute of distance changed more than 30 meters or some large setting. Now I wish I had just made it track with better resolution. (Several of the long straight lines are rides on the Disney Skyliner cable car, or driving in. The only place with smaller curves were when I was walking.)

[allenhuffman]

Canon Support got back in touch with me; told me to make sure I have GPS enabled for the app to use. At least they didn't suggest turning it off and on again. I don't know if their tech department even was sent the spreadsheet I had showing the details of what went in all of the 4300 photos.

Meanwhile, I was able to use Mac GraphicConverter to geotag all my images using the backup log I recorded using "Geotag Photos 2" from the App Store. Unfortunately, I didn't expect to use it, so I was only logging every minute if the distance was a huge gap from the last time, so it's ballpark locations rather than the detailed coordinates I usually get from Camera Connect. Next trip, I'll set to log constantly, and maybe I won't worry about Camera Connect any more. I certainly won't rely on it -- it burns me at least once every trip when it shuts itself off 😉 but then has times when I can turn it on and it will log for a WEEK without any shut down. Go figure.

[allenhuffman]

I took the G5X out today to Pella (Iowa) "Tulip Time". I started the Canon Camera Connect app when we arrived, and then took hundreds of photos over the next several hours.

I just downloaded GPS data from the app to the camera, and now look at the photo info screen on the camera. My first image shows (top right corner) when it was taken:

224-1796
05/06/2023 09:27:43

...but below, bottom left, is the GPS info:

N 41 25'04"
W 92 54;46"
866 ft
05/06/2023 14:20

...as I scroll forward through the photos, the last photo I took, hours later, shows:

224-2303
05/06/2023 13:23:03

N 41 25'04"
W 92 54'46"
866 ft
05/06/2023 14:20

Yep... every photo I took today once again has the same GPS location.

This is a ridiculous bug.